Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus Requires javascript The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus "I have seen the walls and Hanging Gardens of ancient Babylon, the statue of Olympian Zeus, the Colossus of Rhodes, the mighty work of the high Pyramids and the tomb of Mausolus. But when I saw the temple at Ephesus rising to the clouds, all these other wonders were put in the shade"- Antipater of Sidon (Copyright Lee Krystek, 2010) 1100 A.D.: A troop of Crusaders stops at a muddy little village in Asia Minor. Their leader looks around. Confused he dismounts. This place is not what he expected. He read in the ancient texts that this was a large seaport with many ships docked in its bay. It isn't. The sea is almost three miles away. The village is located in a swamp. There are no ships to be seen. The leader accosts a nearby man. Seven Quick Facts Other: Largest in a series of temples to Artemis on this site. "Sir, is this the city of Ephesus?" "It was called that once.

Now it is named Ayasalouk." "Well, where is your bay? Where are the trading ships? And where is the magnificent Greek temple that we have heard about?" Now it is the man's turn to be confused. "Temple? What temple, Sir? We have no temple here..." And so 800 years after its destruction, the magnificent Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World , had been completely forgotten by the people of the town that had once held it in such pride. And there is no doubt that the temple was indeed magnificent. "I have seen the walls and Hanging Gardens of ancient Babylon," wrote Philon of Byzantium, "the statue of Olympian Zeus, the Colossus of Rhodes, the mighty work of the high Pyramids and the tomb of Mausolus. But when I saw the temple at Ephesus rising to the clouds, all these other wonders were put in the shade." An 18th century engraving of the goddess Artemis of Ephesus. So what happened to this great temple? And what happened to the city that hosted it? What turned Ephesus from a busy port of trade to a few shacks in a swamp?

The Shrine to the Goddess Artemis The first shrine to the Goddess Artemis was probably built around 800 B.C. on a marshy strip near the river at Ephesus. The Ephesus goddess Artemis, sometimes called Diana, is not quite the same figure as was worshiped in Greece. The Greek Artemis was the goddess of the hunt. The Ephesus Artemis was a goddess of fertility and was often pictured as draped with eggs or multiple breasts, symbols of fertility, from her waist to her shoulders. That earliest temple contained a sacred stone, probably a meteorite, that had "fallen from Jupiter." The shrine was destroyed and rebuilt several times over the next few hundred years. By 600 B.C., the city of Ephesus had become a major port of trade and an architect named Chersiphron was engaged to build a new, larger temple. He designed it with high stone columns. Concerned that carts carrying the columns might get mired in the swampy ground around the site, Chersiphron laid the columns on their sides and had them rolled to where they would be erected. This temple didn't last long.

According to one story in 550 B.C., King Croesus of Lydia conquered Ephesus and the other Greek cities of Asia Minor and during the fighting, the temple was destroyed. An archeological examination of the site, however, suggests that a major flood hit the temple site at about the same time and may have been the actual cause of the destruction. In either case, the victorious Croesus proved himself a gracious new ruler by contributing generously to the building of a replacement temple. This next temple dwarfed those that had come before it. The architect is thought to be a man named Theodorus. Theodorus's temple was 300 feet in length and 150 feet wide with an area four times the size of the previous temple. More than one hundred stone columns supported a massive roof. One unusual feature of the temple was that a number of columns had bases that were carved with figures in relief. One of the column bases with carved figures preserved at the British Museum. The new temple was the pride of Ephesus until 356 B.C. when tragedy struck.

A young Ephesian named Herostratus, who would stop at nothing to have his name go down in history, set fire to the wooden roof of the building. He managed to burn the structure to the ground. The citizens of Ephesus were so appalled by this act that after torturing Herostratus to death, they issued a decree that anyone who even spoke of his name would be put to death. One of the legends that grew up about the great fire was that the night that the temple burned was the very same night that Alexander the Great was born. According to the story, the goddess Artemis was so preoccupied with Alexander's safe birth she was unable to save her own temple from its fiery destruction. Construction of the Great Temple Shortly after the fire, a new temple was commissioned. The architect was Scopas of Paros, one of the most famous sculptors of his day. By this point Ephesus was one of the greatest cities in Asia Minor and no expense was spared in the reconstruction. According to Pliny the Elder, a Roman historian, the new temple was a "wonderful monument of Grecian magnificence, and one that merits our genuine admiration." The temple was built in the same wet location as before.

To prepare the ground, Pliny recorded that "layers of trodden charcoal were placed beneath, with fleeces covered with wool upon the top of them." Pliny also noted that one of the reasons the builders kept the temple on its original marshy location was that they reasoned it would help protect the structure from the earthquakes which plagued the region. Another artist's conception of the temple (Copyright Lee Krystek 1998) The great temple is thought to be the first building completely constructed with marble. Like its predecessor, the temple had 36 columns whose lower portions were carved with figures in high-relief. The temple also housed many works of art including four bronze statues of Amazon women. The Amazons, according to myth, took refuge at Ephesus from Heracles, the Greek demigod, and founded the city. Pliny recorded the length of this new temple at 425 feet and the width at 225 feet. Some 127 columns, 60 feet in height, supported the roof.

In comparison the Parthenon, the remains of which still stand on the Acropolis in Athens today, was only 230 feet long, 100 feet wide and had 58 columns. According to Pliny, construction took 120 years, though some experts suspect it may have only taken half that time. We do know that when Alexander the Great came to Ephesus in 333 B.C., the temple was still under construction. He offered to finance the completion of the temple if the city would credit him as the builder. The city fathers didn't want Alexander's name carved on the temple, but didn't want to tell him that. They finally gave the tactful response: "It is not fitting that one god should build a temple for another god" and Alexander didn't press the matter. Pliny reported that earthen ramps were employed to get the heavy stone beams perched on top of the columns. This method seemed to work well until one of the largest beams was put into position above the door. It went down crookedly and the architect could find no way to get it to lie flat.

He was beside himself with worry about this until he had a dream one night in which the Goddess herself appeared to him saying that he should not be concerned. She herself had moved the stone into the proper position. The next morning the architect found that the dream was true. During the night the beam had settled into its proper place. Christianity Brings an End to Artemis Worship The theater at Ephesus where a riot nearly started in 57 A.D. over St. Paul's evangelism in the city. (Licensed through Wikipedia Commons courtesy Norman Herr) The city continued to prosper over the next few hundred years and was the destination for many pilgrims coming to view the temple. A souvenir business in miniature Artemis idols, perhaps similar to a statue of her in the temple, grew up around the shrine. It was one of these business proprietors, a man named Demetrius, that gave St. Paul a difficult time when he visited the city in 57 A.D. St. Paul came to the city to win converts to the then new religion of Christianity. He was so successful that Demetrius feared the people would turn away from Artemis and he would lose his livelihood.

He called others of his trade together with him and gave a rousing speech ending with "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" They then seized two of Paul's companions and a near riot followed during a meeting at the city theater. Eventually, however, the city was quieted, the men released and Paul left for Macedonia. It was Paul's Christianity that won out in the end, though. By the time the great Temple of Artemis was destroyed during a raid by the Goths in 268 A.D., both the city and the religion of Artemis were in decline. The temple was rebuilt again, but in 391 it was closed by the Roman Emperor Theodosius the Great after he made Christianity the state religion. The temple itself was destroyed by a Christian mob in 401 and the stoned was recycled into other buildings. When the Roman Emperor Constantine rebuilt much of Ephesus a century later, he declined to restore the temple. He too had become a Christian and had little interest in pagan religions. Video: The Holocaust at the Temple at Ephesus Despite Constantine's efforts, Ephesus declined in its importance as a crossroads of trade.

The bay where ships docked disappeared as silt from the river filled it. In the end what was left of the city was miles from the sea, and many of the inhabitants left the swampy lowland to live in the surrounding hills. Those that remained used the ruins of the temple as a source of building materials. Many of the fine sculptures were pounded into powder to make lime for wall plaster. Excavations to Find the Remains In 1863 the British Museum sent John Turtle Wood, an architect, to search for the temple. Wood met with many obstacles. The region was infested with bandits. Workers were hard to find. His budget was too small. Perhaps the biggest difficulty was that he had no idea where the temple was located. He searched for the temple for six years. Each year the British Museum threatened to cut off his funding unless he found something significant, and each year he convinced them to fund him for just one more season. Wood kept returning to the site each year many despite hardships. During his first season he was thrown from a horse, breaking his collar bone. Two years later he was stabbed within an inch of his heart during an assassination attempt upon the British Consul in Smyrna.

Finally in 1869, at the bottom of a muddy twenty-foot deep test pit, his crew struck the base of the great temple. Wood then excavated the whole foundation removing 132,000 cubic yards of the swamp to leave a hole some 300 feet wide and 500 feet long. The remains of some of the sculptured portions of the temple were found and shipped to the British Museum where they can be viewed today. The site of the temple today (Licensed through Wikipedia Commons courtesy Adam Carr) In 1904 another British Museum expedition under the leadership of D.G. Hograth continued the excavation. Hograth found evidence of five temples on the site, each one constructed on top of the remains of another. Today the site of the temple near the modern town of Sel�uk is only a marshy field. A single column has been erected to remind visitors that once there stood in this place one of the wonders of the ancient world.

Sevens Wonders of the Ancient World - Ancient History - HISTORY.com Sevens Wonders of the Ancient World Sevens Wonders of the Ancient World Author Sevens Wonders of the Ancient World URL A+E Networks Introduction The amazing works of art and architecture known as the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World serve as a testament to the ingenuity, imagination and sheer hard work of which human beings are capable. They are also, however, reminders of the human capacity for disagreement, destruction and, possibly, embellishment. As soon as ancient writers compiled a list of “seven wonders,” it became fodder for debate over which achievements deserved inclusion. Ultimately, human hands joined with natural forces to destroy all but one of the wonders. Furthermore, it is possible that at least one of the wonders might not have existed at all. Still, all seven continue to inspire and be celebrated as the remarkable products of the creativity and skill of Earth’s early civilizations. Google Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt The Great Pyramids, located at Giza on the west bank of the Nile River north of Cairo, are the only wonder of the ancient world that has survived to the present day.

The three pyramids–Khufu (Cheops), Khafra (Chephren) and Menkaura (Mycerimus)–were built between 2700 B.C. and 2500 B.C. as royal tombs. The largest and most impressive is Khufu, which covers 13 acres and is believed to contain more than 2 million stone blocks that weigh from two to 30 tons each. For more than 4,000 years, Khufu reigned as the tallest building in the world. In fact, it took modern man until the 19th century to build a taller structure. Amazingly, the nearly symmetrical pyramids were built without the aid of modern tools or surveying equipment. Scientists believe that the Egyptians used log rollers and sledges to move the stones into place. The sloped walls, which were intended to mimic the rays of Ra, the sun god, were originally built as steps, and then filled in with limestone. The interior of the pyramids included narrow corridors and hidden chambers in an unsuccessful attempt to foil grave robbers.

Although modern archeologists have found some great treasures among the ruins, they believe most of what the pyramids once contained was looted within 250 years of their completion. Did You Know? The Colossus of Rhodes was an inspiration for the Statue of Liberty. Hanging Gardens of Babylon According to ancient Greek poets, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built near the Euphrates River in modern-day Iraq by the Babylonian king Nebuchadrezzar II around 600 B.C. The gardens were said to have been planted as high as 75 feet in the air on a huge square brick terrace that was laid out in steps like a theater. The king allegedly built the towering gardens to ease his lover Amytis’ homesickness for the natural beauty of her home in Media (the northwestern part of modern-day Iran). Later writers described how people could walk underneath the beautiful gardens, which rested on tall stone columns. Modern scientists have deduced that for the gardens to survive they would have had to be irrigated using a system consisting of a pump, waterwheel and cisterns to carry water from the Euphrates many feet into the air.

Though there are multiple accounts of the gardens in both Greek and Roman literature, none of them are firsthand, and no mention of the gardens has been found in Babylonian cuneiform inscriptions. As a result, most modern scholars believe that the existence of the gardens was part of an inspired and widely believed but still fictional tale. Statue of Zeus at Olympia The famed statue of Zeus was crafted by the Athenian sculptor Phidias and completed and placed in the temple of Zeus at Olympia, site of the ancient Olympics, around the mid-fifth century B.C. The statue depicted the god of thunder seated bare-chested at a wooden throne. Holding up the thrones’ armrests were two carved sphinxes, mythical creatures with the head and chest of a woman, the body of lion and the wings of a bird. The statue of Zeus was richly decorated with gold and ivory. At 40 feet, it was so tall that its head nearly touched the top of the temple. According to legend, the sculptor Phidias asked Zeus for a sign of his approval after finishing the statue; soon after, the temple was struck by lightning.

The Zeus statue graced the temple at Olympia for more than eight centuries before Christian priests persuaded the Roman emperor to close the temple in the fourth century A.D. At that time, the statue was moved to a temple in Constantinople, where it is believed to have been destroyed in a fire in the year 462. Temple of Artemis at Ephesus There was actually more than one Temple of Artemis: A series of several altars and temples was destroyed and then restored on the same site in Ephesus, a Greek port city on the west coast of modern-day Turkey. The most fabulous of these structures were two marble temples built around 550 B.C. and 350 B.C., respectively. The former was designed by the Cretan architect Chersiphron and his son Metagenes and decorated by some of the most celebrated artists of the ancient world. The building burned on July 21, 356 B.C., according to legend the same night that Alexander the Great was born. About six years later, the building of a new temple to replace it was begun. The new building was surrounded by marble steps that led to a more than 400-foot-long terrace.

Inside stood 127 60-foot marble columns and a statue of Artemis. Archeologists disagree as to whether the building had an open-air ceiling or was topped with wood tiles. The temple was largely destroyed by Ostrogoths in A.D. 262, and it was not until the 1860s that archeologists dug up the first of the ruins of the temple’s columns at the bottom of the Cayster River. Mausoleum at Halicarnassus Located in what is now southeastern Turkey, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was a tomb built by Artemisia for her husband, Mausolus, the king of Carnia in Asia Minor, after his death in 353 B.C. Mausolus was also Artemisia’s brother, and, according to legend, she was so grief-stricken at his passing that she mixed his ashes with water and drank them in addition to ordering the mausoleum’s construction. The massive mausoleum was made entirely of white marble and is thought to have been about 135 feet high.

The building’s complicated design, consisting of three rectangular layers, may have been an attempt to reconcile Lycian, Greek and Egyptian architectural styles. The first layer was a 60-foot base of steps, followed by a middle layer of 36 Ionic columns and a stepped, pyramid-shaped roof. At the very top of the roof lay the tomb, decorated by the work of four sculptors, and a 20-foot marble rendition of a four-horse chariot. The mausoleum was largely destroyed in an earthquake in the 13th century and its remains were later used in the fortification of a castle. In 1846, pieces of one of the mausoleum’s friezes were extracted from the castle and now reside, along with other relics from the Halicarnassus site, in London’s British Museum. Colossus of Rhodes The Colossus was an enormous bronze sculpture of the sun god Helios built by the Rhodians over 12 years in the third century B.C. The city was the target of a Macedonian siege early in the fourth century B.C.

and, according to legend, the Rhodians sold the tools and equipment left behind by the Macedonians to pay for the Colossus. Designed by the sculptor Chares, the statue was, at 100 feet, the tallest of the ancient world. It was completed around 280 B.C. and stood for sixty years until it was toppled in an earthquake. It was never rebuilt. Hundreds of years later, Arabs invaded Rhodes and sold the remains of the statue as scrap metal. Because of this, archeologists do not know much about the exact location of the statue or what it looked like. Most believe that it depicted the sun god standing naked while he lifted a torch with one hand and held a spear in the other. It was once believed that the statue stood with one leg on each side of a harbor, but most scholars now agree that the statue’s legs were most likely built close together to support its immense weight. Lighthouse of Alexandria The Lighthouse of Alexandria was located on a small island called Pharos near the city of Alexandria. Designed by the Greek architect Sostratos and completed around 270 B.C.

during the reign of Ptolemy II, the lighthouse helped to guide Nile River ships in and out of the city’s busy harbor. Archeologists have found ancient coins on which the lighthouse was depicted, and from them deduced that the structure had three tiers: a square level at the bottom, an octagonal level in the middle and a cylindrical top. Above that stood a 16-foot statue, most likely of Ptolemy II or Alexander the Great, for whom the city was named. Although estimates of the lighthouse’s height have ranged from 200 to 600 feet, most modern scholars believe it was about 380 feet tall. The lighthouse was gradually destroyed during a series of earthquakes from 956 to 1323. Some of its remains have since been discovered at the bottom of the Nile. Tags Temple of Artemis, Seven Wonders of the World - Ephesus Guide Temple of Artemis Artemis Temple The Temple of Artemis was located on the southwest of Ayasuluk hill where Selcuk Castle located on. It was considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World by ancient writers.

Today on Ephesus tours you can can only see the ruins of the foundations of this marvelous construction of the Hellenistic Age, entirely made of marble and full of sculptured columns’ capitals and shafts. The first Temple Artemis is said to have been erected around 800 BC. The fisrt temple had a sacred stone was beleived that it was fallen from “Jupiter”. The goddess Artemis of Ephesus called as Diana in Rome, was not the same as the one worshipped in Greece. The Artemis of Ephesus was the the goddess of fertility. The Greek Artemis was the goddes of hunting. After local people who were believing Cybele and Ionians began tol ive together, they synthesized Greek Artemis and Cybele and they all adored Artemis of Ephesus. She was often depicted as a female figure draped with eggs, multiple breast, which were the symbols of fertility, from her waist to the shoulders, a thrown o her head, bulls, deers, queen bees downwards. The temple was used for pilgrimige, trade, and tourism. The Temple of Artemis was destroyed and reconstructed for several times through history of Ephesus.

After construction in 800 BC, another temple, more magnificant than the first one, was contructed with high stone columns in the same strip In 600 BC. When Lydians conquered the city of Ephesus in 550 BC. they destroyed the temple during the fight. The archeologists scouted the area and made a conculision that the temple might have been hit by a flood at the same time. Temple of Artemis Model The Temple of Artemis was the first sanctuary which was erected of marble. There were 127 columns in total that were carved and circular, 20 m (60 feet) in lenght with Ionic capitals. It was ornamented by the bronze statues of Amazons, adorned with golden pillars, paintings and silver statuettes. The structure rectangular in shape had marble steps surrounding the temple. This temple was the pride of Ephesus city. It became an important port city visited by tourist from vast distances, kings, artisans due to the fame of this temple. When the Goths invaded the city, the Temple of Artemis was burnt down in 260s, it was not rebuilt again.

The Roman Emperor Constantine accepted the Christianity and people had lost their interest in this religion of Artemis. Today it is stil accepted as the third oldest wonders of the ancient world. Through many boks, including the Bible, it can be read though it has been much long. Philon of Byzentum mentioned that about the Temple ofArtemis with these words : ”I have seen the walls and Hanging Gardens of ancient Babylon, the statue of Olympian Zeus, the Colossus of Rhodes, the mighty work of the high Pyramids and the tomb of Mausolus. But when I saw the temple at Ephesus rising to the clouds, all these other wonders were put in the shade” You can stil see a single column which is erected to remind the people in the original site in Ephesus and Temple of Artemis’s remains stand on the exhibition in the British Museum. Temple of Artemis Picture Gallery Ratings The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus Other Wonders The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus served as well as a market place and a cult place for the goddess Artemis which was the divinity of the fertility, the Earth, the moon and the animals. She was very worshipped.

It was located in Turkey, in the ancient city of Ephesus which is nowadays called Selcuk, and which is located 50 km in the South of Izmir. This temple was set up from the middle of the eighth century to the middle of the third century BC It has the peculiarity to have been demolished seven times in ten centuries. The first temple was primitive (8 columns on 4), however king Croesus ordered to destroy it in order to raise a new much larger one. With a base of 155 m (508 feet) on 60 (197 feet), the new sanctuary possessed 127 columns with sculptured reliefs. But it was destroyed again to leave place to the new temple drawn by the Greek architect called Chersiphron, even more gigantic than the precedent: its Ionic columns, adorned with gold, raised at more than 18 m height and contained scenes with mythological symbols sculptured by the lost famous sculptors and the Greek architects such as Scopas, Praxiteles, Phidias and Polyclitus. This last sanctuary sheltered the statues of Artemis and Zeus where these gods were worshipped by the Greek population.

Nowadays, we can find some reproductions of the statue of this goddess in the museums of Naples, the Vatican and the Louvre. Finally, during the night of 21st of July in 356 BC, a person called Herostratus set on fire the temple so that its name is immortalized. It is done. Stones were doubtless reused to build churches. Why is this a wonder of the ancient world ? Ephesus was famous in the Antiquity for its cult for Artémis in a temple whose magnificence permit to made it classified among the seven wonders of the ancient world. This temple was besides, one of the most Panhellenic crowned sanctuaries. Several illustrations : Seven wonder of the ancient world: The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus - Newspaper - DAWN.COM Seven wonder of the ancient world: The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus Print Near the town of Selcuk, about 50 km south from the modern port city of Izmir in Turkey, a single column is erected to mark the site of one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

The Temple of Artemis once stood there, tall and majestic, located in the ancient city of Ephesus, and served both as a religious institution and a marketplace, attracting multitude of pilgrims, merchants, tourists, artisans and kings from far and near. The Ephesus goddess Artemis was a goddess of fertility and was sometimes called Diana, but we need to keep in mind that she was different from the Greek goddess Artemis, who was the goddess of the hunt. The temple of Artemis existed on the marshy site since the Bronze Age, and was destroyed many times and rebuilt on the same site until the advent of Christianity in the region around 401AD when it was destroyed by a Christian mob and rebuilt no more. Philon of Byzantium, an architect and engineer, who was also one of those who drew up lists of the wonders of their times, praises this temple in these words, “I have seen the walls and Hanging Gardens of ancient Babylon, the statue of Olympian Zeus, the Colossus of Rhodes, the mighty work of the high Pyramids and the tomb of Mausolus.

But when I saw the temple at Ephesus rising to the clouds, all these other wonders were put in the shade.” The first temple of Artemis was built there around 800BC, but there are no details of it. Over the next couple of centuries, the temple was destroyed and rebuilt several times. Around this time, the city of Ephesus was a major trading town and the construction of a larger and more magnificent temple was decided upon to suit the importance of this ancient city. Chersiphron, a renowned architect of the time, was selected to design and supervise its construction. But this temple too didn’t last long as a legend has it that it was destroyed in 550BC when King Croesus of Lydia conquered Ephesus. However, Croesus was a gracious ruler and he ordered the construction the temple that started in 550BC. A man named Theodorus is credited to be the architect of the new temple. It was about 300 feet in length and 150 feet wide, with more than a hundred stone columns supporting a massive roof. A good number of these columns had bases that were carved with figures in relief.

Remains of one of these columns in the British Museum is a testimony of the craftsmanship of the people of that time. But, like its predecessors, this temple too did not last for too long as in 356BC a young Ephesian named Herostratus, set fire to the wooden roof of the building and soon the whole structure was destroyed. Incidentally, it is thought to have been the day when Alexander the Great was born, and, according to a legend, the goddess Artemis was so busy supervising his birth that she could not save her temple. Herostratus was put to death and a new temple was commissioned and this time architect Scopas of Paros was appointed. The ground on which the temple was built and rebuilt all through the centuries was marshy and wet, but it was considered to be safer than other sites as the area was prone to earthquakes. Each time the builders chose the same location so that it would escape destruction but the temple would be destroyed by other means than an earth shaking event, and each time the temple would be built on a bigger scale.

The new temple, the first building to be completely constructed with marble, was grander than the last one and according to Pliny the Elder, a Roman historian, it was a “wonderful monument of Grecian magnificence, and one that merits our genuine admiration.” It had 36 columns, and like in the last structure, lower portion of the columns was carved with figures in high-relief. The length of the new temple of Artemis was 377 feet and the width 225 feet and 127 ionic-style columns, 60 feet in height, supported the roof. The construction took 120 years and the temple housed some of the masterpieces of art of the time, such as sculptures by renowned Greek sculptors Polyclitus, Pheidias, Cresilas, and Phradmon, as well as paintings and gilded columns of gold and silver. There were many sculptures were of Amazons, who are said to have founded the city of Ephesus. The temple was surrounded by marble stairs that ascended to a terrace over four hundred feet in length.

The temple had pilgrims coming from far away places and it the city flourished for the next few centuries until the advent of Christianity in the region. As Christianity spread, the temple was viewed as a symbol of paganism and during a raid by the Goths in the year 268AD, it was destroyed. Though it is said to have been rebuilt to some extent, Roman Emperor Theodosius the Great shut it down completely in 391 when he made Christianity the state religion and the temple was destroyed, for the last time, in 401 by a Christian mob. The decline of the city of Ephesus had started by this time and it started losing its economic importance. Silt from the river also pushed the bay away from the city, which slowly turned into a dissolute swampy land. The remains of the temple, including the priceless sculptures, were ruthlessly used as building material by the locals, and only a few ruins remained for excavators to discover in 1869, led by John Turtle Wood. He was an architect sent by the British Museum to locate the temple site and after trying for a few years, he finally came upon the ruins of the temple by at the bottom of the Cayster River.

Another British expedition, in 1904, located five temples layered one on top of the other. Thus only a single simple column reminds us today of the presence of a wonder at the site many hundreds of years ago. At least the exact location of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus is not a mystrey known to just people of the ancient world, like other mysteries of the ancient wonders. Temple of Artemis (Diana) at Ephesus - Our7wondersoftheancientworld Our7wondersoftheancientworld 7 Wonders of the Ancient World ‎ > ‎ Temple of Artemis (Diana) at Ephesus The Temple of Artemis also known less precisely as the Temple of Diana, was a Greek temple dedicated to a goddess Greeks identified as Artemis and was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was located in Ephesus, and was completely rebuilt three times before its eventual destruction in 401. Only foundations and sculptural fragments of the latest of the temples at the site remain. The first sanctuary antedated the Ionic immigration by many years, and dates to the Bronze Age.

Callimachus, in his Hymn to Artemis, attributed it to the Amazons. In the 7th century BC, the old temple was destroyed by a flood. Its reconstruction began around 550 BC, under the Cretan architect Chersiphron and his son Metagenes, at the expense of Croesus of Lydia: the project took 10 years to complete, only to be destroyed in an act of arson by Herostratus . It was later rebuilt. Antipater of Sidon, who compiled the list of the Seven Wonders, describes the finished temple: I have set eyes on the wall of lofty Babylon on which is a road for chariots, and the statue of Zeus by the Alpheus, and the hanging gardens, and the colossus of the Sun, and the huge labour of the high pyramids, and the vast tomb of Mausolus; but when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy, and I said, "Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on aught so grand".

The Seven Wonders - Ancient History Encyclopedia The Seven Wonders the Great Pyramid at Giza , Egypt the Hanging Gardens of Babylon the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus the Colossus of Rhodes the Lighthouse at Alexandria , Egypt The Seven Wonders were first defined as themata ( Greek for 'things to be seen’ which, in today’s common English, we would phrase as 'must sees’) by Philo of Byzantium in 225 BCE, in his work On The Seven Wonders. Other writers on the Seven Wonders include Herodotus , Callimachus of Cyrene and Antipater of Sidon . Of the original seven, only the Great Pyramid exists today. Great pyramid at Giza The Great Pyramid at Giza was constructed between 2584 and 2561 BCE for the Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu (known in Greek as `Cheops') and was the tallest man-made structure in the world for almost 4,000 years.

Excavations of the interior of the pyramid were only initiated in earnest in the late 18th and early 19th centuries CE and so the intricacies of the interior which so intrigue modern people were unknown to the ancient writers. It was the structure itself with its perfect symmetry and imposing height which impressed ancient visitors. Advertisement Hanging Gardens of Babylon The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, if they existed as described, were built by Nebuchadnezzar II between 605-562 BCE as a gift to his wife. They are described by the ancient writer Diodorus Siculus as being self-watering planes of exotic flora and fauna reaching a height of over 75 feet (23 metres) through a series of climbing terraces. Diodorus wrote that Nebuchadnezzar's wife, Amtis of Media, missed the mountains and flowers of her homeland and so the king commanded that a mountain be created for her in Babylon. The contoversy over whether the gardens existed comes from the fact that they are nowhere mentioned in Babylonian history and that Herodotus, `the Father of History', makes no mention of them in his descriptions of Babylon.

There are many other ancient facts, figures, and places Herodotus fails to mention, however, or has been shown to be wrong about. Diodorus, Philo, and the historian Strabo all claim the gardens existed. They were destroyed by an earthquake sometime after the 1st century CE. Statue of Zeus at Olympia The Statue of Zeus at Olympia was created by the great Greek sculptor Phidias (known as the finest sculptor of the ancient world in the 5th century BCE, he also worked on the Parthenon and the statue of Athena there in Athens ). The statue depicted the god Zeus seated on his throne, his skin of ivory and robes of hammered gold , and was 40 feet (12 m) tall, designed to inspire awe in the worshippers who came to the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. Not everyone was awestruck by the statue, however. Strabo reports, “Although the temple itself is very large, the sculptor is criticized for not having appreciated the correct proportions. He has shown Zeus seated, but with the head almost touching the ceiling, so that we have the impression that if Zeus moved to stand up he would unroof the temple” (Seven Wonders).

The Temple at Olympia fell into ruin after the rise of Christianity and the ban on the Olympic Games as `pagan rites’. The statue was carried off to Constantinople where it was later destroyed, sometime in either the 5th or 6th centuries CE, by an earthquake. Advertisement Temple of Artemis at Ephesos The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, a Greek colony in Asia Minor , took over 120 years to build and only one night to destroy. Completed in 550 BCE, the temple was 425 feet (about 129 m) high, 225 feet (almost 69 m) wide, supported by 127 60 foot (about 18 m) high columns. Sponsored by the wealthy King Croesus of Lydia , who spared no expense in anything he did (according to Herodotus, among others) the temple was so magnificent that every account of it is written with the same tone of awe and each agrees with the other that this was among the most amazing structures ever raised by humans.

On July 21, 356 BCE a man named Herostratus set fire to the temple in order, as he said, to achieve lasting fame by forever being associated with the destruction of something so beautiful. The Ephesians decreed that his name should never be recorded nor remembered but Strabo set it down as a point of interest in the history of the temple. On the same night the temple burned, Alexander the Great was born and, later, offered to rebuild the ruined temple but the Ephesians refused his generosity. It was rebuilt on a less grand scale after Alexander ’s death but was destroyed by the invasion of the Goths . Rebuilt again, it was finally destroyed utterly by a Christian mob lead by Saint John Chrysostom in 401 CE. Mausoleum of Halicarnassus The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus was the tomb of the Persian Satrap Mauslos, built in 351 BCE. Mauslos chose Halicarnassus as his capital city , and he and his beloved wife Artemisia went to great lengths to create a city whose beauty would be unmatched in the world.

Mauslos died in 353 BCE and Artemisia wished to create a final resting place worthy of such a great king. Artemisia died two years after Mauslos and her ashes were entombed with his in the mausoleum ( Pliny the Elder records that the craftsmen continued work on the structure after her death, both as a tribute to their patroness and knowing the work would bring them lasting fame). The tomb was 135 feet (41 m) tall and ornately decorated with fine sculpture. It was destroyed by a series of earthquakes and lay in ruin for hundreds of years until, in 1494 CE, it was completely dismantled and used by the Knights of St. John of Malta in the building of their castle at Bodrum (where the ancient stones can still be seen today). It is from the tomb of Mauslos that the English word `mausoleum’ is derived.

The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus: The Un-Greek Temple and Wonder of the Ancient World (Article) - Ancient History Encyclopedia by writer873 published on 18 January 2012 The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus , also known as the Artemesium, was constructed in the mid 6th century BCE. It was located in Ephesus (modern Turkey ), and was considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Antipater of Sidon included it on his definitive list of monuments, partly because of its size and grandeur, but also because of its location. Its location on the rim of the Greek world helped to provoke admiration to non-Greeks of the vastness of the Greek world. Purpose The Artemesium was built to honor the Greek goddess Artemis, goddess of the moon and the hunt, by King Croesus of Lydia . The classic Ionic temple was designed and built by Cherisiphron, an architect from Crete , along with his son Metagenes. The location of the temple in Asia Minor was at a commercial crossroads, and therefore attracted a great variety of visitors, with varying religious beliefs.

It is because of this that the cult of Artemis that was worshipped here also incorporated elements of worship of other deities, such as Cybele , an earth-mother goddess of the region around Turkey. In fact, the cult statue within the temple was likely reminiscent of this Near-Eastern goddess, featuring several breasts (a symbol of fertility), and portrayed in statuary with legs closed, tapering as a pillar or a sarcophagus (quite unlike Classical Greek statues). Advertisement Design The design of the temple was not of the typical rectangle portico that was common to Greek tamples of the time, but a mixture of Classic Greek and Near-Eastern design and execution. It was decorated with 127 Ionic columns that stood 60 feet high. The temple was a large marble building, measuring 377 feet by 180 feet, and it featured columns drums with high-relief sculptural scenes (rather than having simple flutes carved into them). The interior of the temple featured sculptures of Amazon warriors (who had hidden from pursuant Greek gods at Ephesus) by some of the most well respected Greek sculptors, such as Polyclitus and Pheidias.

There were also several paintings adorning the walls, and gilded columns of gold and silver. The cult statue housed within the temple was not huge, like the statue of Zeus at Olympia was, but rather more "life-sized", and stood upon a marble pedestal. Later History The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was set ablaze on July 21, 356 BCE by Herostratus, who held nothing personally against Artemis or the temple, but saw its destruction as a path to personal fame. The temple was reconstructed after the death of Alexander the Great (who curiously had been born on July 21, 356 BCE), and then it was destroyed again in 262 CE by the Goths . Remains of the temple were used in the construction of later buildings. Remove Ads Advertisement Very little remains of the Artemesium. Its location was discovered in 1869, and excavations begun then. Several artifacts were excavated, and are housed today at the British Museum in London.

As for the site at Ephesus, only a lonely reconstructed column stands today, a poignant reminder of the grandiose and gleaming temple whose religious and architectural significance made it one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Help us write more We're a small non-profit organisation run by a handful of volunteers. Each article costs us about $50 in history books as source material, plus editing and server costs. You can help us create even more free articles for as little as $5 per month , and we'll give you an ad-free experience to thank you! Become a Member Bibliography Temple of Artemis at Ephesus Temple of Artemis at Ephesus Temple of Artemis at Ephesus One of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World A depiction of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. (1895). (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images) By Jen Rosenberg, Contributing Writer The Temple of Artemis, sometimes called the Artemisium, was a huge, beautiful place of worship, that was built around 550 BCE in the rich, port city of Ephesus (located in what is now western Turkey ).

When the beautiful monument was burned down 200 years later by the arsonist Herostratus in 356 BCE, the Temple of Artemis was built again, just as large but even more intricately decorated. It was this second version of the Temple of Artemis that was awarded a place among the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World . The Temple of Artemis was again destroyed in 262 CE when the Goths invaded Ephesus, but the second time it was not rebuilt. Who Was Artemis? For ancient Greeks, Artemis (also known as the Roman goddess Diana), the twin sister of Apollo , was the athletic, healthy, virgin goddess of hunting and wild animals, often depicted with a bow and arrow. Ephesus, however, was not purely a Greek city. Although it had been founded by Greeks as a colony on Asia Minor around 1087 BCE, it continued to be influenced by the original inhabitants of the area. continue reading below our video Test Your General Science Knowledge Thus, at Ephesus, the Greek goddess Artemis was combined with the local, pagan goddess of fertility, Cybele.

The few sculptures that remain of Artemis of Ephesus show a woman standing, with her legs fitted tightly together and her arms held out in front of her. Her legs were wrapped tightly in a long skirt covered with animals, such as stags and lions. Around her neck was a garland of flowers and on her head was either a hat or a headdress. But what was most pronounced was her torso, which was covered with a large number of breasts or eggs. Artemis of Ephesus was not only the goddess of fertility, she was the patron deity of the city. And as such, Artemis of Ephesus needed a temple in which to be honored. The First Temple of Artemis The first Temple of Artemis was built in a marshy area long held sacred by locals. It is believed that there was at least some sort of temple or shrine there at least as early as 800 BCE. However, when famously-rich King Croesus of Lydia conquered the area in 550 BCE, he ordered a new, larger, more magnificent temple to be built. The Temple of Artemis was an immense, rectangular structure made of white marble.

The Temple was 350-feet long and 180-feet wide, larger than a modern, American-football field. What was truly spectacular, though, was its height. The 127 Ionic columns, which were lined up in two rows all around the structure, reached 60 feet high. That was nearly twice as high as the columns at the Parthenon in Athens. The entire Temple was covered in beautiful carvings, including the columns, which was unusual for the time. Inside the Temple was a statue of Artemis, which is believed to have been life-sized. Arson For 200 years, the Temple of Artemis was revered. Pilgrims would travel long distances to see the Temple. Many visitors would make generous donations to the goddess to earn her favor. Vendors would make idols of her likeness and sell them near the Temple. The city of Ephesus, already a successful port city, soon became wealthy from the tourism brought in by the Temple as well. Then, on July 21, 356 BCE, a madman named Herostratus set fire to the magnificent building, with the sole purpose of wanting to be remembered throughout history.

The Temple of Artemis burned down. The Ephesians and nearly the entire ancient world were stupefied at such a brazen, sacrilegious act. So that such an evil act would not make Herostratus famous, the Ephesians banned anyone from speaking his name, with the punishment being death. Despite their best efforts, Herostratus' name has gone down in history and is still remembered more than 2,300 years later. Legend has it that Artemis was too busy to stop Herostratus from burning down her temple because she was helping with the birth of Alexander the Great that day. The Second Temple of Artemis When the Ephesians sorted through the charred remains of the Temple of Artemis, it is said they found the statue of Artemis intact and unharmed. Taking this as a positive sign, the Ephesians vowed to rebuild the temple. It is unclear how long it took to rebuild, but it easily took decades. There is a story that when Alexander the Great arrived in Ephesus in 333 BCE, he offered to help pay for the rebuilding of the Temple as long as his name would be engraved on it.

Famously, the Ephesians found a tactful way of rebuffing his offer by saying, "It is not fitting that one god should build a temple for another god." Eventually, the second Temple of Artemis was finished, equal or just a bit taller in size but even more elaborately decorated. The Temple of Artemis was well-known in the ancient world and was a destination for many worshippers. For 500 years, the Temple of Artemis was revered and visited. Then, in 262 CE, the Goths, one of the many tribes from the north, invaded Ephesus and destroyed the Temple. This time, with Christianity on the rise and the cult of Artemis on the decline, it was decided to not rebuilt the Temple. Swampy Ruins Sadly, the ruins of the Temple of Artemis were eventually plundered, with the marble being taken for other buildings in the area. Over time, the swamp in which the Temple was built grew larger, taking over much of the once-grand city. By 1100 CE, the few remaining citizens of Ephesus had completely forgotten that the Temple of Artemis ever existed.

In 1864, the British Museum funded John Turtle Wood to excavate the area in the hopes of finding the ruins of the Temple of Artemis. After five years of searching, Wood finally found the remains of the Temple of Artemis under 25 feet of swampy mud. Later archaeologists have further excavated the site, but not much has been found. The foundation remains there as does a single column. The few artifacts that have been found were shipped to the British Museum in London.

Question: Which of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World was located at Ephesus?
Answer: The Temple of Artemis